fusillade762:When Thomas White spotted a cougar approaching his teenage son outside their home in rural Washington state last week, there was only one thing to do - hand a gun to his 11-year-old daughter.

I'd have thought the one thing to do would be to SHOOT THE GODDAMN THING YOURSELF.

According to the article (grain of salt, and all that) the girl was the only one with a tag to shoot it. I'd probably shoot it myself and fark the consequences, but these kids look like they know what they're doing.

fusillade762:When Thomas White spotted a cougar approaching his teenage son outside their home in rural Washington state last week, there was only one thing to do - hand a gun to his 11-year-old daughter.

I'd have thought the one thing to do would be to SHOOT THE GODDAMN THING YOURSELF.

If they kill me, let Bobby take the shot. At least I know he'll take me down clean.

Doom MD:abhorrent1: Shelby's grandfather, William White, revealed that it was a fourth cougar killed on his property in the past several weeks. We're real avid hunters

I moved out into the wilderness so I can kill any wild animal that walks onto my property How dare these wild animals exist in their own habitat!

/seriously//these ass-hats sound like they just like to kill things

Gun grabbing ninnies hate to admit it, but firearms are a vital tool for animal conservation. Think about this the next time you see a bear licking your grill.

I get that. But if you live in the wilderness where there are bears and mountain lions, chances are some are going to wander into your yard. Doesn't mean you have to kill them every time they do. Getting a permit and hunting are one thing, since it's regulated. Shooting any animal that wanders onto your property is ass-hattery.

You could probably live there your whole life and never see a mountain lion but for some reason, every one in the area wants to eat them? Bullshiat. They should be charged with poaching.

violentsalvation:fusillade762: When Thomas White spotted a cougar approaching his teenage son outside their home in rural Washington state last week, there was only one thing to do - hand a gun to his 11-year-old daughter.

I'd have thought the one thing to do would be to SHOOT THE GODDAMN THING YOURSELF.

According to the article (grain of salt, and all that) the girl was the only one with a tag to shoot it. I'd probably shoot it myself and fark the consequences, but these kids look like they know what they're doing.

See, here's the thing, though: Depending on whether the fish and wildlife guys want to be hard-asses or not, you could be facing some serious fines. Sure, it might be a valid "protection" shoot, but this way it doesn't matter: Girl has a tag for it, doesn't matter if the cat really was stalking her brother or not, it's legal for her to shoot it.

If the father shot it, though, he'd have to be able to prove the cat was a serious immediate danger to himself or another person. Maybe the fish cops will believe him, maybe they won't. Maybe they'll think he cooked up the story just to justify shooting the cougar.

abhorrent1:I get that. But if you live in the wilderness where there are bears and mountain lions, chances are some are going to wander into your yard. Doesn't mean you have to kill them every time they do. Getting a permit and hunting are one thing, since it's regulated. Shooting any animal that wanders onto your property is ass-hattery.

Not that it's common that they attack, *BUT*, if I had a cougar prowling around my backyard on a consistent basis, I'd do what I did with the coyote problem we had a few years ago in my neighborhood: Try to scare them off by yelling, if they keep coming back, ding 'em in the ass with the air rifle to try to dissuade them even more, and if they still keep coming back, then I resort to lethal means.

Seems only fair to give them a chance to regain their fear of humans. But if you've got one animal that doesn't "get the message", then that animal is a problem, and likely to hurt someone eventually.

abhorrent1:Shelby's grandfather, William White, revealed that it was a fourth cougar killed on his property in the past several weeks. We're real avid hunters

I moved out into the wilderness so I can kill any wild animal that walks onto my property How dare these wild animals exist in their own habitat!

/seriously//these ass-hats sound like they just like to kill things

TFA said the animal was a 4 y/o that weighed about 50lb--half what a cougar that age should weigh. If predators are starving, you damn well better believe they'll overcome their fear of humans and come sniffing around your house for a meal.

My guess is the drought out west has resulted in smaller-than-normal deer populations and the predators aren't able to find their normal prey.

Cthulhu_is_my_homeboy:TFA said the animal was a 4 y/o that weighed about 50lb--half what a cougar that age should weigh. If predators are starving, you damn well better believe they'll overcome their fear of humans and come sniffing around your house for a meal.

Yeah, that's a danger sign right there.

The coyotes we had coming around the house a few years back were in late February/early March, when prey for them is scarce. That's why I think they came out of the woods and were poking around the neighborhood, they were looking for food. I wasn't worried so much for the adults, but at the time the littlebopper was 6 or 7 years old (and he's small for his age), and we had a number of other kids that size in the neighborhood, some even younger. You don't want to worry about letting them play in the backyard when there are starving predators about.

Mean Daddy:When Thomas White spotted a cougar approaching his teenage son outside their home in rural Washington state last week, there was only one thing to do - hand a gun to his 11-year-old daughter.

Wait, what?!? Don't they know that guns are harmful? They should have called the gubmint. Fadder Oobama will take care of us all. The gubmint is my shepherd, I shall not want....

Don't you get it man? The gubbament already won. This poor defenseless family had to make do with a plain ol' RIFLE, they couldn't wheel out the minigun and call in a daisy-cutter airstrike like you're supposed to do when staring down a wild animal. The Man made it so they barely even had a chance for her brother to get chalked into the Acceptable Losses category when dealing with a threat to national security like a cat.

abhorrent1:Doom MD: abhorrent1: Shelby's grandfather, William White, revealed that it was a fourth cougar killed on his property in the past several weeks. We're real avid hunters

I moved out into the wilderness so I can kill any wild animal that walks onto my property How dare these wild animals exist in their own habitat!

/seriously//these ass-hats sound like they just like to kill things

Gun grabbing ninnies hate to admit it, but firearms are a vital tool for animal conservation. Think about this the next time you see a bear licking your grill.

I get that. But if you live in the wilderness where there are bears and mountain lions, chances are some are going to wander into your yard. Doesn't mean you have to kill them every time they do. Getting a permit and hunting are one thing, since it's regulated. Shooting any animal that wanders onto your property is ass-hattery.

You could probably live there your whole life and never see a mountain lion but for some reason, every one in the area wants to eat them? Bullshiat. They should be charged with poaching.

Ok, you let apex predators skulk around your prepubescent children unharassed and I will light them up with my ar15.

Given how underweight this animal was, it was either ill or there are too many predators than the local ecosystem can support.

Bartman66:jaybeezey: abhorrent1: Shelby's grandfather, William White, revealed that it was a fourth cougar killed on his property in the past several weeks. We're real avid hunters

I moved out into the wilderness so I can kill any wild animal that walks onto my property How dare these wild animals exist in their own habitat!

/seriously//these ass-hats sound like they just like to kill things

Right, when you have children and live stock around, you also want a preponderance of predator animals creepin gin the shadows.

It's good for keeping the kids alert. Who cares how many get killed!?!!

THIS.Hate the crying crowd of "you just want to kill everything" kids who probably have never been in the wilderness or have been two times for a campout and therefor they know everything.

I kind of wonder how many of these people want to ban guns "for the children", then get upset an apex predator had to be killed with a gun in order to defend the life of a child. The cognitive dissonance must be unbearable.

mokinokaro:An eight-nine year old hunting still seems like child endangerment but to each their own.

My dad used (and played with) farking dynamite when he was a kid. Firearms are incredibly safe compared to other common rural hazards. Teaching 8 year olds gun safety is fine, they're old enough to realize that you're damn serious about it (and you should be), and if they screw around then they're never going to be allowed to touch guns again.